Fortified Foods Initiative

I confirm that I am fully aware of the eligibility criteria, and based on its description, I am eligible to apply to the CSV Prize 2017.

Yes, I'm eligible

Preferred language

English

Organization name

OVA Technology global resources

Year founded

2016

Initiative stage

Start-Up (a pilot that has just started operating)

Annual budget in 2017 (USD)

$1k - $10k

Number of beneficiaries impacted so far

50 - 100

Organization type

For-profit

Secondary Focus Area

Water

Nutrition

Headquarters location: Country

Nigeria

Headquarters location: City

Akure, Nigeria

Location(s) of impact

Akure

Website

www.ovatechgr.com

Facebook URL

#fortifiedfoodsinitiative

Problem: What problem is this initiative trying to address?

Over 2.5 million children between ages 0-5 are suffering from acute malnutrition in Nigeria and she is one of the highest contributors of under-five mortality in the world with annual death of about one million and about half of the death is due to malnutrition. On the other hand, malnutrition has been attributed to poverty, and inadequate access to good food. Our project provide very affordable fortified foods to tackle malnutrition in children and grown ups while reducing poverty through value chains and employments.

Solution Summary: What is the proposed solution? What do you see as its most promising aspects for creating shared value?

Different approaches have been taken one of which is micronutrient powders which though have been seen to yield results, has not been seen very effective due to inadequate adoption. We see a gap understanding of the people especially the illiterates and the poor in accepting something new.
Therefore, we decide to go through already known foods. commonly consumed and sourced foods are reproduced in hygienic conditions and packaged for sales. This encourages the people as these foods are not totally different from what they are used to. For example, fortified garri in southwestern states,fortified fura powder in the North, fortified corn and sorghum meal for infants etc, if made available low cost relatively close cost of locally produced ones, will be well patronized and health Will improve.
Our model is to work out fortified local foods products acclimatized to regions same with other countries we're scaling Up to. We develop farms and a crowdfunding model to farm raw materials

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Specify both the social and the environmental impact of your work

Well, the project has just started. The impact is still in Akure, as only few products have been made due to our awaiting the official NAFDAC certification due for January, so far, many residents in the academic and non academic community in Akure love the Vitamins A Garri which is the testing product and we can put the number at less than a thousand so far, and about 3 tonnes sales. If we had produced more officially, the products are loved and would have been bought.
We are yet to measure the health effects but we are currently trying to measure through health facilities.
On the other hand, this project though young, has provided minimum 30 casual or labour jobs for the farm operations as we currently have an 8 hectares farm. We expect that this project will create up to 50 permanent jobs and close to a hundred casual jobs within the next 18 Months, also, we have provided a ready market, presently for cassava farmers so we are already improving health and alleviating poverty

Financial sustainability plan: How is this initiative financially supported? How will you ensure its financial sustainability long-term?

So far, this is what is going on, but this will change in the course of a few months when widescale sales start.
Individual donations: 10%
Grants: 55%
Loan: 10%
Earned income: 25%
However,on a long term, the business is planned to be self-sustaining through revenues from the following sources:
1. Revenue will come from sales of our products
2. Revenue will come from sales of our waste while we also work on cutting of our costs especially on electricity, by utilizing our wastes for green energy production
3. The business will be opened up to investments of different forms. For example, we developed a crowdfunding investment platform for people to invest in farming of our choice crops and they get ROI on annual basis. This allows for funds availability.
4. Grants and Aids.

Unique value proposition: What makes your initiative innovative? How does your project differ from other organizations working in the same field?

1. Most companies in this line, take fortification as just a component of their business, but for us, fortification is our vision, it's our focus
2. We are going through local foods which makes acceptability more possible at all regions and no tribalism, or other cultural matters affecting it's acceptance
3. We are paying attention to raw material source, as much as possible, we'll try to make our products organic and the overall costs Will be reduced through our crowdfunding model.

Founding story: Share a story about the "Aha!" moment that sparked the beginning of this initiative.

Sometime ago (around 2011 as a student) I had in my heart to go into food production, garri precisely because in Akure that I was, there was no access to finely made, high quality types. I initially thought of buying from Ibadan and selling on Akure, but then the idea of producing it came. Meditating on the idea within a year, something struck me, some of us like garri, not for poverty, can't we have good nutrients in garri for benefit to health? rather than causing eye problems...i also thought of flour used in breads making, what if we can have nearly balanced diet In these foods?
Then I started my research and found to my greatest surprise, these figures of mortality, and sicknesses arising from malnutrition that I've never heard not even in the news. Vitamin A which I wanted to include in garri was one major Deficient nutrients.
This was when I knew this is the path to go.

Where did you hear about the Nestlé Creating Shared Value Prize?

Social media

Evaluation results

2 evaluations so far

1. Overall evaluation

5 - This idea rocked my world. It’s awesome! - 0%

4 - This idea seems really exciting. With a little more polishing, it’d be among my favorites. - 50%

3 - I think the idea is great, but it needs some work before it moves onto the next round. - 50%

Share this

Applaud

Attachments
(1)

4comments

The effort your initiative is putting in to handle acute malnutrition through food fortification is laudable. Consider adding iron and other nutrients in addition to protein and not only Vitamin A. For a more natural option, use of soy or moringa fortification can be considered. As a start-up, your input would be more felt when your product effectively tackles malnutrition. The problem identified is great and the solution must be well mapped out for success and impact. Get a strong financial sustainability plan laid out backed by a feasible business model. Your success will go a long way to help your communities so keep up with the good work.

Oh Joseph Brenyah ,your comments are so much welcome and appreciated. It's evident that you know much about the food fortification industry. Yes, we are actually doing Multi-micronutrient fortification and we are basically leveraging on natural solutions via biofortified crops as well as enrichment with such crops as morninga and Soya. And our business model has been designed to provide adequate financial sustainability. However, please as you've spoken in such manner, i'll appreciate if you can help with any link to a standard packaging material producer which could be well affordable within or outside Nigeria, as that's one of the areas we are in need.

Great idea! Wonderful Innovation! Your target on common staple foods to achieve the best solution of malnutrition is highly commendable. Every community in Nigeria has a common and well eating food, alas! most of these foods lack some essential nutrients. Fortifying these foods will make rich, nutritious and balance. Keep it up!